


Change My Mind

by fullmetalscully



Series: Camp Nano 2019 [11]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Babysitting, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Mama Hawk, Married Couple, Papa Roy, Royai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 16:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19066513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullmetalscully/pseuds/fullmetalscully
Summary: Roy and Riza spend the day babysitting Elicia. Roy is a natural born father, but Riza has some reservations about motherhood. Can a day with their niece change Riza's mind?





	Change My Mind

**Author's Note:**

> "I like to start things off with compliments so here you go: your writing is fantastic! If you're still taking prompts could you do a royai oneshot where after the promised day, Riza and Roy are married but Riza refuses to have kids with him because she thinks they'd both be terrible parents because of all they did in ishval but then she sees how great Roy is with Elicia or Elysia (however you spell it is fine) and decides she does want to try having kids with him after all?" - Anon
> 
> this was a faaab prompt! i hope you all enjoy it as much as i did writing it uwu papa roy owns me <3

 

“Thank you for agreeing to look after Elicia today,” Gracia smiled, handing the overnight bag, containing all they needed to look after the nine-year-old, to Must – Roy. Even after all this time, old habits die hard.

“Not a problem, Gracia,” Roy replied with a kind smile. “We’re always happy to spend time with our niece.” The edges of his eyes crinkled as he grinned at the child, who was running over to them, a massive smile one her own face. It rivalled the happiness in Roy’s.

“Uncle Roy!” she screeched, launching herself into Roy’s arms. Riza readied herself to catch him, should he fall, but he steadied himself easily.

Elicia loved Roy, and vice versa. When together, apparently, they were inseparable, according to Gracia. This was the first time, however, that Riza would be spending time with both of them. Riza had never seen Roy properly interact with Elicia before, never mind look after her for a whole day. He may be the youngest General in the Amestrian military, but he was still hopeless. It was a wonder he got himself through the day by himself, never mind while looking after a child.

At least Roy had her to help him now. In the pocket of her jacket, Riza’s thumb moved to brush against her left ring finger, the gold band cool to the touch.

“Ready to go?” Roy asked his “niece”, who nodded enthusiastically in his arms. Roy chuckled. “Let’s go, princess.”

Elicia latched onto his hand immediately after bidding farewell to her mother, then did something that surprised Riza. She held out her hand, looking at Riza expectantly, so she was holding both their hands as they walked. Riza blinked, ignoring the knowing and growing smirk on Roy’s face, then apprehensively took the child’s hand. It was warm as it gripped hers tightly, Elicia’s grip iron clad as she alternated swinging Riza and Roy’s arms as they walked, a bright smile on her face.

They opted to drive to the park, the walk being a little too long for Elicia to handle at her age. It was fine in length for the adults, but they wanted Elicia to play there, not sit on a bench in the sunshine, exhausted from her walk.

“Arms up,” Roy commanded and Elicia obeyed without question, obviously used to her Uncle Roy fastening her seatbelt. “All good?” he asked once clipping the belt in place.

“All good,” Elicia replied happily.

“Excellent. Onwards!”

“Yay!”

Riza didn’t try to hide her amusement as she watched Roy interact with Elicia.

They had discussed having their own kids, but Riza had decided against it. They had done too much in their lives so didn’t feel like they deserved to be happy. Their marriage was a happy coincidence. For tax reasons it was an ideal situation, and the public would need a Fuhrer who was married and had a stable relationship. It was a marriage of convenience at heart, however they did love each other, and had done for years, so not a complete loss on both their parts.

Roy was happy and agreed with her decision, stating he was simply happy to be able to express his love for her openly, but Riza _knew_ he longed for a child of his own. Even after spending five minutes in the company of him and Elicia, Riza knew this was something he wanted to experience with a child of his own. There was no doubt about it.

“Uncle Roy!” Elicia cried in delight as she ran around the grass. “No!”

Roy laughed as Riza watched them from the bench she was sat on, marvelling at how happy Roy looked as he chased Elicia with a “spider” hidden within his clasped hands.

“It’s going to get you!” he teased, reaching his hands out closer towards his niece. She shrieked and altered her course, opting to sprint towards Riza instead. Upon realising what was happening, Riza’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as the child came careening towards her.

“Auntie Riza!” Elicia cried, laughing as she and Roy ran towards her, the latter with the goofiest grin on his face.

Riza wasn’t entirely comfortable with that title, she barely knew Elicia – they hadn’t spent much time together at all over the years – but accepted the warm welcome into her life nonetheless. As Elicia said, “you’re Uncle Roy’s wife now, so that makes you my Auntie Riza!”.

She also didn’t expect to see Roy so happy. He was so different with Elicia than he was on a day-to-day basis. Oh, he was happy now that they were married and the homunculi and Bradley were finished, but it was only with the Hughes’ daughter that he looked so carefree.

It reminded her of the teenager she once knew before war and this country had corrupted him.

Elicia leapt into Riza’s surprised arms. “You won’t hurt her!” Elicia smiled triumphantly.

“Oh yeah?” Roy asked, a mischievous smirk on his face.

“Yeah!” Elicia replied, although there was doubt in her voice. “You love Auntie Riza, so you won’t scare her by putting a spider in her hair!”

Elicia’s child logic was so innocent that Riza stopped, readjusting the grip on the child as she wriggled out of her arms to stand on the bench beside her.

Roy sighed dramatically. “I suppose you’re right. You win this round, Elicia,” he added, his tone disappointed. Elicia giggled and hopped down, racing away once more in case her uncle decided to pull that stunt again.

“You okay?” Roy asked, pausing and turning around to face his wife with that smile she loved. It was the one where he looked at her with such love and wonder, leaving Riza to question every time what she did in this life to end up with someone like him to love her. She certainly didn’t deserve it after the life she had lived.

“Yeah.” Riza coughed to clear her throat. “Yes. I’m fine.”

Roy paused, turning to completely face her. He grasped her left hand gently, his thumb and forefinger running across her wedding ring, and smiled. “Good.” He bent down, kissing her lips softly.

“Uncle Roy!” Elicia wailed, ready for his attention to be turned back to her. He chuckled against her lips, a smile spreading across his face. Riza got an up close and personal look at it as he pulled away a fraction, just enough so he could look in her eyes.

“I think Elicia is demanding your attention,” Riza murmured.

“I think so too,” he agreed, laughing as the child shouted for him again. “Duty calls!” With a quick peck on her cheek, Roy turned and jogged over to her.

After dinner Elicia was out like a light. Their day had obviously been an exciting and tiring one, evident in the way her head kept dropping closer and closer to the top of the table, almost landing in her plate of food.

“She’s completely out,” Roy whispered as he sat next to Riza on their couch. His thigh was pressed against hers and she revelled in the warmth he provided, leaning subconsciously into him. The book she was reading was more of a prop at this point, her mind too distracted to focus on any of the words the pages offered up to her. Today had given her a lot to think about and as Roy put Elicia down for the night, Riza had focussed on those thoughts instead of losing herself in the novel. Riza placed it down on the arm of the couch, giving up reading all together.

“I understand why,” she replied, stifling a yawn. “I’m exhausted.” Roy wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her upper arm as he chuckled. “I don’t know how you did it all day.”

“For that kid I would do anything,” he replied. “Even if it meant propping my eye lids open with tooth picks to stay awake and entertain her.”

Riza smiled to herself, a warm feeling pooling in her gut. It made her ruminations of the evening solidify in her mind, however she needed to discuss it with him first.

“Dramatic, but a fair assessment. That much was clear after today.” Silence reigned after Roy laughed at her comment. “How do you do it?” Riza asked quietly.

“It’s easy,” he replied. “Once you get more experience at it –”

Riza shook her head. He had misunderstood. “No, how do you do it, be so happy with her all the time?”

Roy finally understood and he sighed. The air in the room appeared to have turned colder, thanks to Riza. Gone was the warmth from the pleasant day they had just spent together. In its place was the reminder of their past which always loomed over them.

“It’s simple. Elicia doesn’t need to be touched by the darkness we hold within us.” The hand on her arm rose to her shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze. “We promised we would rise to the top to protect the next generation, so that they would never have to go through what we did. That’s why I can be so happy with her, because I know I fought tooth and nail – and almost lost everything in the process – and succeeded. Elicia may not have her father, but she’s growing up in a world where she can be truly happy and doesn’t need to worry about a growing conflict in the east, or a southern border war. All that is behind us now.”

Riza was silent as she processed his words. He was right and that _was_ the reason why they had sacrificed themselves, to protect the likes of Ed, Al, and Elicia.

“What have you been thinking about?”

He knew her too well.

“I was thinking about us… and our family.”

“Riza, we talked about this,” he reminded her gently.

Se nodded. “We did, but after seeing you today, I _know_ how much you wished that was our child.”

“It’s not –”

“Please, let me finish?” she asked, desperate, turning her gaze towards him.

“Of course.”

Riza stared at the hands clasped in her lap. One of Roy’s hands found its way in, covering both of hers. “Before, when we discussed it, I thought we didn’t deserve to have kids, and, in a way, I still don’t think we do. But then I look at Hughes.” She felt Roy stiffen beside her. “He did the same as us, murdered the same as us, yet he got to go home from the war and have a family. He found happiness.” Her hands tightened their grip on each other. “Is it selfish for me to say I wish we had too?”

Roy also tightened the grip on her hands. “Never. We just chose a different path. We made it to the top instead. There… There were times when I wished it was different. It comes in moments – every day, in fact – but we did what we did, we chose our path in Ishval, and now we pay the price.

“You and I are different people than Hughes. We chose duty over family because of who we are as people. Can I be honest?” he asked, bringing his hand up to her chin and turning it to face him.

“Always.”

“I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else by my side throughout this journey.” Riza’s hand brushed along his jaw, angling it so she could draw him close to kiss his lips. “It’s selfish of me to say, I know that, because I wouldn’t have wished _any_ of this on you. However, if we started stretching like that, we could just go to blaming it on our parents for giving birth to us in the first place.”

Riza laughed quietly to herself, her sadness seeping out of her slowly.

“Yes, I would like a family,” Roy began slowly and Riza felt her chest tighten involuntarily in fear. “However, for the longest time my family has been _you_ , even if we weren’t allowed to show it. If I’m with you then I’m happy. If you don’t want kids, that’s fine.” His smile was so full of love for her. “I already feel like the lot I ended up with was far more than I deserved.”

“Uncle Roy?” Elicia asked quietly from the doorway. One of her eyes was covered by her fist as she rubbed it tiredly.

“Yes, princess?” he asked, turning in his chair to face behind him, the conversation between them ended for the moment.

“I had a scary dream,” she mumbled, breath hitching.

“Come here, Elicia.”

She ran over as soon as the words were out of his mouth and clambered into his open arms. Roy sighed and rubbed circles on her back, whispering in her ear that everything would be all right.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Elicia shook her head vehemently. “Okay, don’t worry. You don’t need to.”

He was a natural born father.

“What…” Riza trailed off, picking her next words carefully. “What would you say if I changed my mind?” Riza whispered, leaning towards him so Roy could hear her.

His head craned around slowly to look at her, holding his breath as his lips parted in surprise and anticipation. Riza’s gaze flicked down to Elicia – and how he comforted her with his hug – before returning to Roy’s, giving him a small nod, telling him that yes, today might have just swayed her towards adding a new member to their family.

With him.

It would be terrifying, but Roy had been with her through the majority of all the terrifying aspects of her life. He would help her through this as well. After today, Riza could see he was a natural at being a father, like he was born to fill the role.

It would take some time to figure it out, but perhaps now she could do that.

Roy leaned in, kissing her softly, giving her his answer.


End file.
